novapages.com » Photography

Scared? Try a camera.

velda — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:04:53 +0000

My security blanket is my camera. I found this little lady on my door jam this morning, but was afraid to try to step on her in my barely-there sandals, so I just instructed the kids to keep their distance and I’d deal with her after I’d taken them to school. But even with shoes on I was too scared to do it. I’ve been bit by a black widow spider before and it was anything but a good time. So I sprayed her with windex (of all things) and hoped for the best. When we all got home from school again, there she was waiting for us.

And yet I was still afraid. So what do I do but whip out my little camera and start taking pictures?

Black Widow Spider - contrary to popular belief, her red spot is on her belly, not her back. But if I'm too afraid to squish her, what am I doing taking photos? This was done with an Elph no less, 3x zoom

Then a cubscout showed up at our doorstep and squished her without a word. What is wrong with me? :-p

Bzz..

velda — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:37:18 +0000

Here’s a bee making sure we’ll have seeds to plant from Ethan’s awesome sunflower:

Cool orangey-red and yellow bee all pollened up..

The kids are very excited about planting a row of these in our garden next spring. Here’s hoping they’ll actually work.

Tribulus Terrestris

velda — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:11:21 +0000

What is this? A goathead? A sticker-weed? Punctureweed? Thorn plant? Professor Harris, who taught my Biology this past semester, said that some people call it a Caltrop, but I think the scientific name is most appropriate.

Tribulus Terrestris… Tribulation of the Earth. Isn’t it the truth? And yet when I hear the word Tribulation, it’s typically at church, and also typically associated with learning. We’re supposed to learn from our trials, right? The only thing I’ve learned from this plant is that there is most certainly Evil in this world.

Tribulus Terrestris

I have tribulations all over my shoes!

I less than three coloring

velda — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:48:52 +0000

Bought myself a box of stress relief

Stress relief in a convenient 64 count box

Thistle do…

velda — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:18:52 +0000

Ever noticed in the movie that Horton’s clover looked much more like a thistle? I painted a clover in class today and it looks nothing like the clover in the movie. But this thistle I found on my way home does:

This reminded me of the days when crayola made a thistle colored crayon, too. Which incidentally led me to their crayon color history page, so I'm linking it.

I’ll scan the clover painting when I get it back

Devil in the Details…

velda — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:43:02 +0000

I could not figure out for the life of me why this grasshopper was so willing to pose for me. I snapped a half dozen photos or so and he hardly moved; certainly didn’t jump out of the way when I got up close or one like this. It didn’t dawn on me until I was looking at the blown up photos that he’s missing a leg. Poor little guy!

An unfortunate grasshopper

Taste the rainbow!

velda — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:46:42 +0000

I hadn’t posted these pictures from Seattle’s Pike Street Market. If I had to choose between candy and my choice of ready-to-eat fresh fruit, I’d take the fruit any day. Isn’t it pretty?

Fruit, glorious fruit!

My most favorite fruit - Raspberries! Mmm

Here's a boy who offered me a slice of Honeycrisp three times in three minutes.

Stinky Cheese

velda — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:25:05 +0000

I’m a fan of all kinds of cheese, particularly when I’ve got some fruit to enjoy it with. And the other day I was craving some cheddar ‘squeaky’ curds. Given the choice between Cache Valley and Gossner, I’d pick Cache Valley any day. But I wasn’t given that choice, so Gossner it was.

And as I ate some curds with a crispy braeburn this morning, I thought, hmm, needs salt. Hmm, not quite as moist as I’d expect a curd to be. Hmm hmm hmm. But they were better than no cheese, and they complimented my apple nicely.

Then I noticed my grocery receipt. Apparently the folks at Macey’s prefer Cache Valley too…

I didn't think they were THAT bad.

Let it Snow!

velda — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:47:15 +0000

Photo cards for December 2006

So I realized that for a person who likes taking photos, I’ve posted a very small percentage of the ones I like. And that’s something I intend to fix. So interspersed with every-day type photos that might be a bit ho-hum, I’m throwing in a few of my favorites.

This is a photo I took a few years back; I ended up turning into my family Christmas card. I just love the the action and fun in this one.

Chinese Clematis

velda — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:30:00 +0000

Mystery Blossom, final stage, also in September

Update: We figured out what this is called! And it’s bad news! But I still think it looks pretty neat.

Name that Plant! What utah-native wild plant (read: interesting weed) starts out as a curly vine, sports lantern-shape buds that blossom into nodding yellow flowers, opens up to expose long tendrils that look like some whimsical version of the snakes on medusa’s head, and ends as fluffy as a feather? You tell me! I’ve seen this plant while hiking, and it looks to me less like a wildflower from Utah than it looks like it could have come straight from Whoville.

Every time we hike to the waterfall nearby, I notice this plant in its different stages. I’m sure it’s a weed, but I think it’s pretty neat anyway.

Mystery Blossom - July

This is the open blossom, circa August

Mystery Plant Blossom, Stage 3, September

A cluster of stage 3 blossoms

Curly vines on the mystery plant (From July)

And Eva wins the contest! I’d tried googling a description before, but lo and behold she got it on her first try. Meet Chinese Clematis, a Class B Noxious Weed, but only in Colorado. It’s not on Utah’s list for the moment.